Just got in from a ride to work and half way through, noticed when free wheeling the chain becoming loose (almost sticking). thought nothing of it then next thing the whole wheel wouldnt turn when rotating the crank!! got off my bike to check and turning the crank the whole drivetrain was stiff. These are new C50 wheels too!. I span the wheel and it freewheeled ok. But turning the cranks to rotate the wheels everything becomes very stiff. its not the crank with the chain off it spins freely, the rear derailer seems fine i regreased this last week, must be the rear hub! help whats going on anybody give me some pointers so I can fix and ride home.

lammy wrote::cry: Just got in from a ride to work and half way through, noticed when free wheeling the chain becoming loose (almost sticking). thought nothing of it then next thing the whole wheel wouldnt turn when rotating the crank!! got off my bike to check and turning the crank the whole drivetrain was stiff. These are new C50 wheels too!. I span the wheel and it freewheeled ok. But turning the cranks to rotate the wheels everything becomes very stiff. its not the crank with the chain off it spins freely, the rear derailer seems fine i regreased this last week, must be the rear hub! help whats going on anybody give me some pointers so I can fix and ride home.

That's a bit odd, the wheel spins, the crank spins but the chain doesn't pull through easily. Doesn't sound like hub to me.

One possibility is something fouling the frame, chain or cogs perhaps. Is it only in certain gears?

Another is the guide pulleys on the rear derailler, do they spin or at least turn freely?

I'm reaching here, but is there any chance the chain might have rusted or been gummed up by something?

lammy wrote::cry: Just got in from a ride to work and half way through, noticed when free wheeling the chain becoming loose (almost sticking). thought nothing of it then next thing the whole wheel wouldnt turn when rotating the crank!! got off my bike to check and turning the crank the whole drivetrain was stiff. These are new C50 wheels too!. I span the wheel and it freewheeled ok. But turning the cranks to rotate the wheels everything becomes very stiff. its not the crank with the chain off it spins freely, the rear derailer seems fine i regreased this last week, must be the rear hub! help whats going on anybody give me some pointers so I can fix and ride home.

Sounds like the freehub is damaged or has something floating around inside it.

- When turning the cranks, the freehub is locked and not involved, it cannot create drag.- If the wheel spins freely, it's not the wheel bearings.- There will always be a little drag from the freehub causing the chain to slacken a little bit. - If the cranks spin freely, it's not the crank bearings.

On Ultegra & Dura-ace, the guide jockey wheel is a ceramic bearing. You are not supposed to put anything in there. Once they seize, they are stuffed. But Token makes some very nice replacements.

Not sure, they definitely should if your LBS does it. Shimano don't used sealed bearings so they require a bit of grease now and then. IME its a set and forget thing, but the amount of attention required varies.

Thanks for all the replies I checked all of the solutions out, cheers. I eventually found the problem....

It seems I didn't tighten the lock ring enough (in fear of over tightening) and some how it's worked it's way loose, to the point it almost unscrewed itself and the rock ring was rubbing on the dropouts!!!! it explains why it free wheeled ok but was grinding on pedaling.!!! first one for me that!!

In any case I limped to the nearest bike store (99 bikes underwood) for a tighten, they sorted me out there and then, replaced the locking for a new one, took my bike in and re-adjusted the derallier free if charge!!! Top service 99 bikes 10/10 refreshingly nice!..... contrary to the intimidating tradie in his truck that drove up to me stopped within a meter as I was in the layby tring to hand tighen the locking, then shouted abuse as he left 5 mins later. I dispair sometimes!! To add further drama to my commute home 2 screws came loose from my speedplays on the way home too left my cleats hanging off, bizzare as i tighened them just a few days earlier. perhaps i need a torque wrench!!! Anyway cheers everyone.

twizzle wrote:Well... that's rather a different problem! You are very lucky it didn't trash something.

Re speedplays, read the speedplay threads.

Sent from my iThingy...

Sweet thanks for the heads up, I went to the local nuts and bolts shop this morning, got some 4mm x 14mm metric countersunk stainless steel screws and come loctite, hopefully It will do the trick. might keep a couple of spare screws in my saddle bag too.

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